New Zealand scientists have discovered that some cows have genes that give them a natural ability to produce skim milk. Plans are already under way to begin developing herds of such cows, according to Chemistry & Industry, the journal of the Society of Chemical Industry.

WAITING FOR THE CHOCOLATE MILK COW - New Zealand scientists have discovered that some cows have genes that lets them produce skim milk. CNS Photo.

MEDTRONICA - The Inside Cancer Web site at www.insidecancer.org is a multimedia guide to cancer biology designed to be understood by the layperson. CNS Photo.

Researchers are also investigating the potential of a cow named Marge, whose milk is particularly low in saturated fats. Refrigerated butter made from her milk could be spread. Scientists say they could have a commercial herd of Marge mimics ready by 2011.

Marge and her skim-milk producing kin were discovered when a biotech company called ViaLactia examined milk compositions taken from a wide sampling of New Zealand's 4 million dairy cattle.

A multimedia guide to cancer biology designed for the layperson. It has informative, well-designed slide shows covering the hallmarks of cancer, its causes, treatments and prevention.

ART MAKES THEM SICK

Stendhal's syndrome is marked by bouts of dizziness, panic, paranoia and even temporary madness - all brought on by, well, inspiring artwork.

The syndrome gets its name from Stendhal, a 19th-century French writer whose real name was Marie-Henri Beyle. In 1817, Stendhal wrote that he suffered head-spinning disorientation while admiring various Italian Renaissance masterpieces during a trip to Florence. Upon gazing at Giotto's ceiling frescoes at Santa Croce, for example, he wrote: "Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling."

In the 1970s, a psychiatrist at Florence's Santa Maria Nuova Hospital reported that Stendhal's syndrome was alive and well, noting that tourists routinely were admitted suffering from everything from temporary panic attacks to bouts of psychosis lasting days.

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

The average person flexes the joints in his or her fingers 24 million times over the course of a lifetime.

OBSERVATION

I reckon being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.

- Samuel Butler

STORIES FOR THE WAITING ROOM

The popular advisory "The American Frugal Housewife," published in 1832, suggested that a quick, easy and indisputably cheap remedy for minor cuts, scrapes and chapped lips was an application of fresh earwax.

GET ME THAT. STAT!

Babies who are born heavy and grow fast have a 150 percent chance of being overweight or obese by the time they are 7 years old, according to a University of Hong Kong survey of more than 8,300 children.

Babies are considered heavy if they weigh 8 pounds or more at birth.

NEVER SAY DIET

The world's distance record for spaghetti consumption is 100 yards in 27.75 seconds.

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Xenoglossophobia - fear of foreign languages

LAST WORDS

"What is that noise?"

Daughter: "It's the people outside."

"What are they doing?"

Daughter: "They've come to say goodbye."

"Why? Where are they going?"

- Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975)

NAP AWAY

Nap until your heart's content. For six years, Harvard University followed more than 23,000 people in Greece who had no history of coronary heart disease, stroke or cancer. They found that people who napped at least 30 minutes a day, three times a week, were 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease than their non-napping counterparts. Researchers believe that stress relief may be part of the answer.

AEROBICS A REAL WORKOUT

It turns out Jane Fonda knew what she was talking about when she urged us to go for the burn. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research says you can scorch as many or more calories in an aerobics class as you can on a treadmill. Researchers calculated the calorie burn for hour-long exercise classes and found they topped the 552 calories used in a 5 mph run. Step, Tae-Bo, and spinning torched 576, 584 and 593 calories respectively.